Zootopia protect and serve
by rutger5000
Summary: A story on the live of Judy and Nick as police officers and their lives in general. If I can live up to my ambitions it will delve Nicks past and the experiences that made him the fox that he is. There's a bunch of angst in there, but nothing sinister.
1. Chapter 1

So I've got more than a bunch of zootopia stories floating in my head that I want to get out. Pretty much all of them are intertwined. Earlier I had published what I thought would be the first chapter, but I wasn't quite happy about that one. So I wrote this one, which isn't really suited as the first chapter.

So basically what I'm saying, expect more chapters in the near future (if my failing studies don't take all of my time), and expect the order of them to change.

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"Okay so this is Oak street, which intersects with Moosevelt motorway and Bovine boulevard before it ends in 77th Vine leading into the rainforest district" Judy stated confidently as they turned the corner. Entering the last residential area they were supposed to be patrolling for that day.

"Hah" Barked Nick. "Nice try Carrots, this is Pine street intersecting with Moosevelt lane, Bovine boulevard AND Dingo drive before it intersect with 75th Vine leading to the rainforest district. You still have much to learn young grasshopper."

Judy snorted at that. "Honestly that pun was so bad that I'm not even sure it was one." She replied before checking Nick's words on her Zphone. *Carrot sticks! The son-of-a-vixen was right*. "And how is it that you're taking the mentor role here? Need I remind you who's the senior officer here?"

Nick threw up his paws in mock surrender. "Ease up on the rooky, Officer Mc Superbun. What can I say? I'll never deny you're the better officer between the two of us. But it's going to take you a few life times before you can teach me anything about Zootopia."

Judy hit her paw against his chest. "Hush" she whispered. "Did you hear that?".

Nick shot here a look. "You know, that question is never going to be not dumb. No Fluff I can't hear that, but I put complete faith in those radar dishes you call ears."

Judy was silent while she listened for a bit more, then she said. "It's a crying cub and I also hear a metal squeaky noise. Any place nearby where that might make sense?"

Nick scratched his muzzle for a second. "There's a little park where Dingo drive crosses Panther path, it has a play area with an old fashioned swing set. Should be roughly in that direction" He finished pointing in the direction Judy heard the sound from. "Wanna check it out?"

Judy nodded as she replied "Should we call it in?"

"Call what in? That you heard a crying cub? Last time I check it wasn't illegal for cubs to cry. Let's first check it out, then judge if we need to call it in. It'd save us the unnecessary paperwork if it turns out to be nothing."

Judy shared Nicks aversion against paperwork and readily agreed. "Well then Mister Zoogle maps, with you knowing every nook and corner of the city I'll let you lead the way".

Judy was glad to have Nick as a guide. While the road plan of Zootopia's major routes were pretty straightforward, the same could not be said for its residential areas. Here the city had attempted to make a 'pedestrian friendly' and 'organic' road plan, which translates to 'complete maze for all non-natives'. Honestly without Nick or alternatively her Zphone's GPS system she'd never find her way. But with Nick leading the way every corner turned took them closer to the origin of the sound, and soon they reached the park he mentioned.

The only mammal in the park was a young donkey, she was sobbing on the swing, letting the gentle wind push her forward until gravity pulled her back. "Hey there sweetie, I'm Officer Hopps, and this is Officer Wilde, would you like to tell us what's wrong?".

The donkey didn't respond, and continued to sob.

Nick knelt down to her his snout wrinkling as he did so. "Hi there, I'm Nick and this pretty ladies name is Carrots". The child giggled at the silly name. '"and look what I've got." He clapped his hands together and when he moved them apart again he had somehow pulled a small lollypop, from where Judy would never know. She wasn't exactly thrilled that Nick used his nickname for her with a civilian, but she let it slide this time as they were dealing with a cub.

Now the cub looked up and moved to grab the tasty sweet. But just before she could reach it Nick clapped his paws together again, and suddenly the lollypop was gone. "Now I'm sure your parents taught you not to accept candy from strangers." He said sternly, but not unkindly. "But see these pretty blue suits Carrots and I are wearing? Those mean that we are cops, and that means it's our duty to protect and serve. Do you know what that means?"

First she nodded as an automatic response, then she realized her own confusion and shook her head.

"That's okay. It means that it's our job to help all the mammals in Zootopia, and stop them from doing mean things to each other. It also means that you can always walk up to Judy and I or any other cop if you see us and tell us if there's something wrong. " He snickered. "And it also means that you can accept candy if we offer it. Do you understand?"

This time the cob nodded with conviction.

Judy withdrew to the background for a bit, acknowledging that while she knew how to deal with her younger siblings, Nick somehow had a better natural talent at dealing with cubs she didn't know. *The Todd was made to be a father* The thought shot through her head.

"Good then here you go" Nick repeated the trick again and offered her the sweet, tentatively she took it. "Now can you tell me and Carrots your name?"

"I'm Becky" she replied in a soft reserved voice.

"That's a pretty name, and how old are you Becky. A big girl like you must be at least ten right?"

Becky giggled. "No silly, I'm only five, that's only half ten".

"Wow only five, and already such a big and smart girl." Judy thought this was a bit of an exaggeration, the cub didn't look to be much heavier or bigger than her. "Now Becky is there anything that is making you sad and want to tell me and Carrots about?". She violently shook her head, and Nick decided not to press the issue. "That's okay, but Becky it's already getting late and you shouldn't be out by yourself. Can you tell me your address so that we can take you home?"

The cub bowed her head keeping her eyes to the ground. "I don't know my address, it's weally difficult to remember."

Nick bowed his head as well averting his gaze from her, so that she could look up. "Hmmmm" he pretended to contemplate. "Is it dafenetly definitely drive 273?'

Becky made a face at the weird name. "No, that's a silly name."

"Thennn is it "prabable probable park 261?" He offered.

Giggling the cub replied "You're making those up, they're way too silly."

Nick chuckled "You're right, I was making jokes, you're a really clever girl you know that? But now how do we get you home?" He fell silent for a bit pretended to ponder the issue. The he flicked his ears first his left, then his right and then his left again. "Hmmm how indeed?" Becky seemed unable of stopping herself a gave his right ear a small tug. "Woah!" Nick exclaimed and he shifted his weight to the right. "Wait, do that again with the other ear" Becky giggled and gladly obliged him. "Woah!" Nick repeated now shifting his weight to the left. "This gives me an idea, I'll put you on my shoulders and you guide me to your home by pulling my ears. How about that?"

"Yay ! Piggy ride Piggy ride Piggy ride !" Becky exclaimed throwing her front legs upwards so that Nick could lift her.

With one effortless swoop Nick flung the cub on his shoulders, part of the payoff of the intense physical training he underwent at the academy. "The princess has mounted her trusty steed, lead on my fair lady, lead on." Becky screamed with joy, she kicked Nicks shoulder sending him in a gallop. Nothing could hide the fun the cub was having, and whatever hardships that had left her crying and alone, they seemed to be forgotten. Judy couldn't help but smile at the sight Nick and the cub made against the setting sun. Whether he realized it or not Nick was living her dream, making the world a better place. "Hey Becky, can you tell us a bit about your parents?" She wondered out loud.

Nick shot her an angry glare, signifying something that Judy didn't get. Beckie's laughter fell silent. "Mommy died when I was fouww, Daddy takes care of me."

"Owh I am sorry about your mommy." Judy replied genuinely heartbroken. "Do you like your Daddy?" Judy offered the soft-ball question as a way to lighten the mood.

Becky nodded violently. "I luwe my Daddy very much" she said replied with a small tremble in her voice.

Nick suddenly jumped and on his landing dropped his weight a good feet closer to the ground. The jolt send Becky giggling once more, and immediately they were back in their game. Often Becky would give small tugs to either of Nicks ears to send him jerking from one side to the other, but other than that they seemed to be moving in a consistent direction. In little time they made it to what seemed to be the her home. Still giggling and playing with Nick's ears the cub seemed to ignore they brought her home.

The house looked like any other Zootopian suburban housing, complete with a small garden in the front and a picket white fence. It looked like it belong in rea-estate or pension commercials. Nick set Becky down next to him and gave her a path on the back. Judy rang the doorbell and a few moments later a adult ass opened the door, and Nick started sniffing the air. The male fit his home to a T, looking equally bland and normal. He was reasonably well kept and wore blue jeans and a white vest. "Sir, we found your daughter alone in a park a good block away. Would you mind explaining to us how she ended up there alone and unsupervised?" She said, not hiding her tone of disapproval.

The ass flashed a disarming smile a mouth full of big white square teeth. "Owh occasionally she goes on these adventures by herself and winds up getting a bit lost." He explained casually waving his hand as to downplay the whole thing. "But she always find her way back home to daddy again. Don't you squirt ?" He finished while turning to his daughter. Who nodded violently in response.

Judy started thumping her feet impatiently "Sir, I can't say I'm satisfied with that answer. If I leave here feeling you're not doing enough to secure the safety and wellbeing of your cub, then"

Nick launched himself at the larger mammal, with slammed him against the wall, and with both his paws he clenched the donkey's throat. "Listen her you sick piece of filth, I know what you did, and I literally know over a hundred mammals that would happily kill you for it." He snarled at him as he lifted him against the wall.

"Nick ! Let the mammal go right now!" Judy screamed out with a trembling voice. She hadn't noticed she had pulled her tranquilizer gun at Nick, and a part of her hated herself for it. The other part felt powerless and afraid at facing this side of Nick she could have never imagined was there.

Nick broke neither his strangling hold nor hateful gaze on the donkey. "Judy you've got to trust me, I am in the right here, and I can explain it all later. But now we need to be there for Becky." The young girl still standing outside with an indecipherable expression on her face.

This was beyond going regulation, this could only be described as assault, this was breaking the law. But he had called her by her real name, she knew that he was serious. She knew what it meant for him to be asking for her trust, she knew he wouldn't betray it. She holstered her weapon. "Crackers Nick you're going to own me one heck of an explanation after this."

Nick turned his focus back to the ass ones more. With a voice filled with more venom the tod should have been able to possess "You're dammed lucky that she's with me now, if I'd been alone I'd have unleashed the full wrath of Karma on you. But if you ever even try to get near Becky ever again, then nothing on this planet is going to save you." He kneed him with full force in the groins and let go of him. The donkey collapsed on the floor with a grunt. During the tumble Nick had snatched his wallet and flipped it open. "Jack Equis, Lynx Lane, born in Zootopia general hospital July 4th 1980. Remember I know literally and I do mean literally over a hundred of mammals that would kill you for what you did. All I need do is go out for a night of drinking, and accidentally let your name and address slip. If I did you would be death before sunrise." Slowly he added. "But. Not. Before. You. Suffer." He dropped the wallet on the heap of mammal that was Jack Equis and turned around.

He guided Judy out of the house. He closed the door and knelt down to Becky. Placing a hand at the back of her head he said "He is never going to hurt you ever again." Turning back to the gentle and caring fox that Judy he was deep down inside. Becky flung her arms around him and started crying like Judy had never heard any cub cry. Nick slowly stood up lifting her as he did so. "It's okay princess, we're going to take you some place safe. It's all going to be okay." He soothed while rocking her oh so gently.

Utterly dumbfounded by the quick series of events Judy did not know how to feel. She settled at furious and betrayed, Nick had violated her image of what it meant to be an police officer. He had assaulted an unarmed civilian in his own home. From Beckie's reaction to it all she could see that obviously something more had be going on. But that didn't change what Nick had done. Angrily she started. "Nick, I'm still waiting for that explanation."

Nick just shook his head. "Not now Fluff, we first need to get Becky to down the Channel District. We'll be going by the monorail, we can talk when we get on there."

"For goodness sake Nick! You've just broken at least 4 different laws, and now your kidnapping a cub from her home! I need to know what's going right now, or I'll be forced you and return that cub home."

Becky whimpered loudly and clutched Nick's fur. "Shh Shhh, don't worry, I promise you we won't take you back there." He soother her, rubbing his chin between her large ears. "Fluff I already told you what was going on in that house. Definitely 273, likely 261. I only agreed to get her home to confirm my suspicions, and to give Becky some closure. Now do you really want to discuss this now on the open street?"

Judy halted in her tracks, only now catching the signals Nick had tried to give her when he faked guessing Beckie's address. She knew the police radio codes by heart, 273 Child neglect, 261 rape."


	2. Chapter 2

Told you the second chapter would be updated sooner. Originally they were planned as 1 single chapter. But it grew much bigger than I thought it would. And this Becky arc still isn't done. (One more chapter, after which she'll become a rarely recurring character.)

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The walk to the monorail station had been a long and silent one. Safe for Beckie's whimpering which grew less and less with each step the took away from her house, and the lullaby that Nick had hummed to her. When they finally got to the station it was well past evening rush hour and Becky was fast asleep. They managed to find an empty cart and sat down. Both letting out a hefty sigh. Becky stirred in her slumber, and Nick moved his tail to her face. Still half asleep she grabbed it and cuddled the fluffy extension as if it was a stuffed animal.

No longer angry, only tired and defeated Judy started. "Nick, none of this is okay. We need evidence we don't have to back up those accusations, and even if we did have them, you went outside the law. Beating a non-violent mammal, threatening his life, and removing his child out of his custody, something you don't have any authority for." She placed her face in her paws and sighted. With a trembling voice she continued. "Nick I need to know why you did what you did, and if you're going to turn yourself in." *Or are you going to force me to do it*.

A sad smile formed on Nick's muzzle. He scratched the sleeping donkey behind her ear and softly replied. "Look at her Fluff. A little over an hour ago I beat up her father in front of her. A mammal who should have been her caretaker, who she should associate with safety and comfort. Yet here she is, hugging my tail like it's the only safe and good thing in the world." He let out a mirthless chuckle. "But you want to know how I knew what she suffered through. There were many things tipping me of, so lets begin shall we?" He licked his teeth. "Honestly the first hint was the strongest, when I sat dawn next to Becky on the swing I smelled scent-block from her genital region."

"You smelled scent-block?" Judy asked with crooked eyebrows.

Nick shrugged. "Scent-block works, even on us canines. You spray it on anything, and no mammal will be able to smell the original scent. But it itself does have a scent that mammals with good noses can pick up."

"So? Nick, a cub smelling like scent-block isn't proof of anything."

"Come on Fluff you can't be this naïve. Mammals spray their private parts with scent block because they want sexual privacy. Without it plenty of Mammals will be able to tell who they've been rutting, and how long ago. But why on Earth would a 5 year old need that kind of privacy? But let's for the moment just say that her father thought it could help stop a rash or something. Then I could still smell him all over her. Now a father touching his daughter is the most normal thing in the world. But this was going beyond what would have been appropriate. And before you ask. Yes I could smell that it was her father's send on her, before I even had met the male. A fox nose is good enough to pick up family bonds." Now that he had started he kept going on, he pretended otherwise, but he needed to get all of this off his chest. "So that was already enough for me to strongly suspect rape, and Judy you only need to look at the poor girl to see she's chronically malnourished. A donkey is supposed to be what, like 10 times as heavy as a fox? There's no way I should have been able to pick her up as easy as I did. And then there was her pretending not to know her address, so we wouldn't be able to get her home. Because come on Judy, what 5 year old doesn't know their address. It's how they're supposed to get back home safely if they ever get lost. If I had not tricked her with a game to play, she'd never show us where she lived. Combine that with her lying when she told us she 'luwe my daddy very much'. Early she'd already shown that violently shaking or nodding her head was her tell. And when we finally got to her place, and that sick piece of dung opened the door. I smelled the same scent-block coming from his junk. That was all I needed to know beyond a doubt what he was doing to the poor cub. So to summarize we have the following evidence.

Matching scents of scent-block on both her and her father's private parts.

Her physique clear evidence of chronic malnourishment.

Her lying about forgetting where she lived, so she could stay away from home a bit longer.

Her lying about her home situation.

And this is a big one. Her clear and undeniable relief when I ensured her that he'd never hurt her again.

But being utterly and completely honest Fluff. I knew about her the moment I saw her. I've seen too many abused and neglected cubs not to recognize them when I see them. "

They fell in an uncomfortable silence, Judy was the one that broke it. "Nick, arguing that you aren't right, because you obviously are. But none of that will stand in court, and it doesn't change that you broke the law."

Nick took a deep breath. "Judy I took an oath when I graduated from the academy. I swore to 'serve and protect and uphold the law', those words in that order. I shall not break that oath till my dying day, and they tell me my duty towards those in need of my protection comes before my duty to uphold the law."

Suddenly angry again Judy exclaimed. "You could have done both! We could have taken the cub to the appropriate agencies, and arrest and trial Jack Equin. You threw away due process without a second thought!"

Becky had started to stir, being disrupted from her slumber by Judie's loud words. Nick padded her on the back, and she drifted away once more. He sighted. "The cub's name is Becky Fluff, and you said it yourself, none of the proof we had would stand in court. Yes we could have arrested that sorry excuse of a mammal and yes we could have put Becky in a foster home. But what happens next? We don't have the evidence to prosecute him, and the only way to get more would be to let Becky take a physical exam. I'm certain if we let her take on right now, we'd find her father's sperm inside her. But we can't let Becky take such an exam without the consent of her caretaker. And I highly doubt that Jack would give it to us."

Baffled Judy retorted back angrily. "We don't need Jack's consent! All we need is Becky to lie down allegations against him, and we could get the exam underway."

A flash of irritation shot through the mask that Judy hadn't been aware he had been wearing. "Really Fluff? Really, you're going to demand a traumatized five year old to lie down allegations against her Father? I don't know if you've ever been sexually assaulted, and I pray that you never will have to suffer through that. But I've seen what it does to mammals, how it damages them. It can take a mammal years to gather the strength to come forward and lay down charges. And you demand a five year old to do it within the short time that we can lawfully keep her out of her Father's custody? A five year old that doesn't understand what has been happening to her, who probably thinks it's normal, and has definitely been thought never to speak of it by the hand of numerous beatings. I know you're not that cruel. The law can help Becky, maybe it can even someday punish her Father, but it can't guarantee that he never comes near her again."

Her anger had turned to shame and despair. "Is the law really that broken? Is there nothing that it can do to protect her with the evidence we do have?" She wondered more against herself then against Nick.

The fox shook his head. "The law isn't broken here Carrots. Clever mammals put a lot of thought into it. They could make it so that mere suspicions would be enough to remove cubs from their caretakers custody, but what would then happen if a pissed poorly adjusted mammal would call in a false anonymous tip on how the neigbhours are beating their cubs? Because those kind of Mammals do exist. Or what if a kind and loving father who just the worst day of his life, and when his son bugs him he snaps and hits him. He immediately regrets it, and makes it right and it would never happen again. But a concerned citizen just so happened to have only see the blow. What would happen then?

The thing is Carrots removing a cub from their caretakers custody isn't a trivial thing. It shouldn't be done without due consideration and strong evidence of wrongdoing on the caretaker part. But this does mean that in cases like this, where you know that there's wrongdoing, but can't proof it. Then it does mean that the law can't truly protect the cub.

So if the law can't help Becky, then my oaths force me to do it. But I trust your judgement about this Carrots. If you think that my actions betrayed the uniform, and you still think that at the beginning of tomorrow's shift. Then I'll surrender my badge and turn myself in."

The bunny had buried her face in her paws. "Crackers this is one messed up situation. Did you have to threaten and beat him up like you did?"

"We punish criminals in a hope they won't return to their ways, and to help their victims find closure. In this case I couldn't do that with the help of the law, so yeah I had to do it by myself. But I won't deny I took a perverted pleasure in doing it."

Emotionally exhausted Judy surrendered. "Okay Nick, you've convinced me. You did what you had to do. So what do we do now?"

Nick's face lost a lot of tension, he sighted. "Now we take her to St. Gerbil Emiliani house for orphans."


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